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Point of View: Additive vs. Subtractive Writing

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additive / subtractive (plus minus) - deposit photos

I recently had a fascinating talk with a relatively new author in our local writer’s group. We all have a bi-monthly lunch together, which gives us time for casual chats about the practice and business of writing. I mentioned that I was an additive writer – that is, that my stories tend to get longer in later drafts, especially in the second, as I smooth out the work and layer in more details about the characters and the world around them. I liken it to an artist who starts with a pencil sketch on canvas, adds the base colors, and … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Sheryl R. Hayes

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Sheryl R. Hayes

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Sheryl R. Hayes (she/her) can be found untangling plot threads or the yarn her three cats have been playing with. She is equally likely to be shooing one of them off the keyboard as she is working on her novels and short stories. In addition to writing, she is a cosplayer focusing on knit and crochet costumes. You can find her online at http://www.sheyrlrhayes.com. Chaos Wolf is on on saleSeptember 27th through … Read more

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Serial: Down the River – Chapter Twenty-One

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Down the River Header

I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets! Today, Matteo figures out how to catch a thief, and Ainsley has a surprise client at Ragazzi… < Read Chapter 20 | Read Chapter 22 > Join my email list to get my weekly newsletter with notifications of new chapters. Chapter Twenty-OneThe Thief and the Artist … Read more

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Point of View: Loss, Hope, and Life Journeys

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lighted path - deposit photos

It won’t be long now. A dear friend of ours is in hospice care, on the final steps of her life journey. It came on suddenly, and her decline has been shocking and heartbreaking. Yesterday, we saw her for probably the last time. While I wouldn’t have missed it, I couldn’t help thinking that the person we used to know was already gone. A few days ago, I had a phone conversation with my Mom, who had just lost one of her beloved dogs, Jake. She talked about loss, not just of the people and fur babies in her life, … Read more

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Author Spotlight: R. Gary Raham

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R. Gary Raham

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: R. Gary Raham writes science fact and science fiction. He believes the latter often excites a new generation of scientists to discover more of the former. Armed with degrees in biology from the University of Michigan, Raham taught high school science before pursuing careers in writing, illustration, and design. His work has garnered numerous awards. Raham’s writing has been known to make a reader laugh and think simultaneously with no known deleterious … Read more

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Release Day review: The Death Bringer

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Just got this great review in time for release day, from author Anna Butler: Well, I just powered through the series, so I could review the latest one as part of its release tour. And, you know? I loved it. It’s a bit of an odd beastie, to be sure. Fantasy? Sci-fi? Some blend of the two? Scott’s created a world, a colony of a long-gone Earth left to its own devices, to develop its own society in a place that was once connected to something bigger, and is now insular and inward-looking, cut off from the rest of the … Read more

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Serial: Down the River – Chapter Twenty

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Down the River Header

I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets! Today, Dave has a secret of his own, and it’s haunting him… < Read Chapter 19 | Chapter 21 > Join my email list to get my weekly newsletter with notifications of new chapters. Chapter TwentyWith Eyes to See Dave sat alone in his car, staring … Read more

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New Release: The Death Bringer – J. Scott Coatsworth

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The Death Bringer - J. Scott Coatsworth

J. Scott Coatsworth has a new queer sci-fantasy book out, The Tharassas Cycle book four – The Death Bringer. AIK WILL NEVER BE THE SAME… AND NEITHER WILL HIS WORLD War is coming. Aik has become the Progenitor, and the Seed Mother has released him to transform the world for her alien brood. Silya and Raven, Aik’s former friends, are the only ones who can save him and the world. But what if the cure is worse than the invasion? As Silya rushes to prepare Gullton for the battle to come, she’s determined to save as many people as she can. … Read more

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Double Review: The Death Bringer – J. Scott Coatsworth

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The Death Bringer - J. Scott Coatsworth

Just got two great early reviews for The Death Bringer: Reviewers: Ulysses, Paranormal Romance Guild; Maryann Universal Buy Link About The Book AIK WILL NEVER BE THE SAME… AND NEITHER WILL HIS WORLD War is coming. Aik has become the Progenitor, and the Seed Mother has released him to transform the world for her alien brood. Silya and Raven, Aik’s former friends, are the only ones who can save him and the world. But what if the cure is worse than the invasion? As Silya rushes to prepare Gullton for the battle to come, she’s determined to save as many … Read more

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Point of View: Filtering Reality

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writer staring out window - deposit photos

Reality informs everything we write. We grow up in the real world. We learn the real names of things, we navigate our way through real life and real school and real relationships. Our lives are lived solidly in the real world, and we can’t help that, as writers, our fiction is shaped by it. And yet… Books (and TV and film) are by their very nature escapist mediums. They let us turn off our brains to escape reality for an hour (or three) and immerse ourselves in someone else’s version of the world. During the great Depression, movies were one … Read more